Pages

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Let the Wrong Light In by Avon Gale Dual Media Review

Avery Hextall, a junior architect at a prestigious firm, is
thrilled when his design is chosen for a new performing-arts center—even if it
means working closely with his insufferably uptight project manager, Malin
Lacroix. When a chance encounter in the boss’s office proves that Lacroix is
anything but cold, Avery is determined to learn more about the real man beneath
the aloof veneer.

Despite their growing attraction and their increasingly kinky encounters, the
enigmatic Malin remains as emotionally distant as ever. Worse, Avery’s friends
are convinced Malin thinks of Avery as a dirty secret and nothing more—a secret
that might destroy both of their careers.

But the real secret is a single moment in time that haunts Malin and keeps him
from committing to the life he wants with Avery. In order to move on, Avery
must help Malin come to terms with the tragedy in his past before they can work
on building a future together.

Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
I absolutely loved Let the Wrong Light In
as an audiobook. Not only was McClain’s vocal performance completely
entertaining, but the story itself appealed to me immensely. I’m not sure why,
but the combination of Avery Hextall’s impulsiveness and Malin Lacroix’s
staidness just worked for me. Granted, there is far more to both men than the
face they show the world, particularly Lacroix. Perhaps it was getting to know
the men, that made the book so enjoyable because each argument, each
interaction, each sexual encounter, and each conversation revealed more and
more layers to each man’s personality, revealing flawed, yet believable
characters, characters who I couldn’t help but want them to find their happily
ever after together.

After yet another rejection of one of his architectural designs, Avery storms
into his supervisor’s office and proceeds to make a total arse of himself.
Instead of disciplining Avery for his insubordination, Lacroix takes the time
to give Avery professional guidance on how to improve his future submissions.
Although Avery has a difficult time being gracious in the moment, he does
listen and implements the suggestions on his next project. And this marks the beginning
of the rocky, awkward, and often volatile relationship that forms between Avery
and Lacroix as they work together on Avery’s first building. What makes it
interesting is that Avery spends a great deal of time denying and/or
rationalizing his attraction to a man who drives him insane, a man he hates, until
he can’t do it any longer and tempers flare, leading to a physical
confrontation that brings Avery to his knees – literally. While maintaining a
professional relationship at work, the men embark upon a pseudo-sadomasochistic
semi-sexual relationship and things get complicated very quickly.

Notice the prefixes? As I think about it, it’s the prefixes that made Let the Wrong Light In such an enjoyable
book for me. Avery and Malin’s relationship begins as pseudo-sadomasochistic
because neither man is knowledgeable enough about S&M to engage in it
properly and it does become abusive. While I don’t consider the abuse malicious
(i.e., Malin didn’t intend to abuse Avery), Gale does a nice job of
illustrating how important communication and knowledge are and how quickly a
relationship can get off course if the people involved aren’t communicating
with one another. The semi-sexual aspect of the relationship provides for
further character growth because while it is made clear to the reader that
Avery is bisexual, we’re led to believe that Malin is heterosexual… until
Avery, at least that’s how I understood it. Because the story is told from
Avery’s point of view, we see Malin’s sexual evolution through Avery’s eyes and
their conversations, and I found it to be very interesting. Having the story
told from Avery’s point of view also enables us to witness Avery’s character
development as he works to learn a bit of impulse control and how to
communicate his wants and needs to Malin. Even though we see it through the
filter of Avery, I enjoyed watching the men learn more about themselves and
each other, and how they both eventually realized that they had to put the
other before their own pride if there was any hope of a “them” in the future.

Let me not forget that Derrick McClain’s vocal performance was astounding. I
loved how he was able to convey Avery’s inner turmoil and outer lack of calm
and frustration so effectively. Even knowing that Avery was misunderstanding
Malin’s intent, I would still get upset on Avery’s behalf because McClain did
such a good job of capturing Malin’s aloofness, which Avery seemed to interpret
as dismissive or cold. And then later in the story, when Malin reveals his
secrets to Avery, McClain gives us a new Malin – a Malin who has hope for a
future with Avery and that hope is in his voice. Absolutely stunning. Gale’s
words and McClain’s voice made Let the
Wrong Light In a listening experience I look forward to enjoying again
soon.

Ebook Review

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
4 stars with Stipulation Attached
STIPULATION: This was really only a 4 from 75% on. Otherwise, it was maybe a 3.
Triggers: Click HERE
to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger warnings.

Let me start by saying that I didn't really like this story until the very end.
It was somewhat dangerous and little abusive throughout the story. Almost to
the point of where I wanted to stop reading... So, just be warned that this is
not a story that is warm and cuddly, nor is it for someone who wants to
"play" responsibly. There was almost no discussion about the
roughness of their play, nor the abusive nature of Malin.

Avery is searching for something. However, he doesn't know what he's looking
for. He loves his job, but feels that Malin has it out for him – that he
purposefully makes Avery's life hard by not choosing his designs. Avery wants
answers and he finds some of them through his attraction to Malin.

Malin is a hard one to know. He doesn't really engage until the VERY end of the
story. All you know from the beginning is that he's slightly unhinged and can
be potentially dangerous to Avery.

Like I said at the beginning of this review, I had a very hard time sticking it
out for this book, but the ending kind of made it worth it. I wish that the
ending had been more towards the middle and we had been able to see more of
their life together.

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
After developing a mad girlcrush on Avon Gale while devouring her Breakaway
series, I was thrilled to find another of her stories I had somehow missed. And
while this book surprised me with adult characters who work grown up jobs, and
enjoy rather hardcore kink, it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Emotionally incontinent and unable to shut up, talented junior architect Avery
is annoying, slightly infuriating, and impossible to dislike. I loved his
conversations, and his thoughts are wildly amusing.

In contrast, Avery’s accomplished boss, Malin, is almost impossible to like for
most of the story. But I would dare anyone to continue hating him once he
finally chooses to share his story with Avery.

The kink in this story is pretty extreme. The relationship between Malin and
Avery pushes consent boundaries uncomfortably. These men enter into D/s and S/m
scenes without any conversations, safewords, or research. Malin hurts Avery in
anger and he has very little understanding of his own needs or limits. In turn,
Avery is too infatuated with Malin to put any limits in place to protect
himself. The kink in this story really isn’t for everyone and it gets pretty
dark at times.

This is an incredibly emotional ride. Avery’s runaway mouth adds some levity,
but Malin’s early experiences, Avery’s desperate need to be appreciated, and
the very dark kinky scenes make for an incredibly angsty read. Personally, I
much prefer the younger, lighter relationships in the Breakaway series, but I
still really enjoyed this slightly more adult story.

AVON GALE wrote her first story at the age of seven, about a “Space Hat”
hanging on a rack and waiting for that special person to come along and purchase
it—even if it was a bit weirder than the other hats. Like all of Avon’s
characters, the space hat did get its happily ever after—though she’s pretty
sure it was with a unicorn. She likes to think her vocabulary has improved
since then, but the theme of quirky people waiting for their perfect match is
still one of her favorites.

Avon grew up in the southern United States and now lives with her very patient
husband in a liberal Midwestern college town. By day, Avon is a hair stylist
who loves her job, her clients, and the opportunity to spend her time being
creative and making people feel happy and look fabulous.

When she’s not writing, she’s either doing some kind of craft project that
makes a huge mess, reading, watching horror movies, listening to music, or
yelling at her favorite hockey team to get it together already. Avon is always
up for a road trip, adores Kentucky bourbon, thinks nothing is as stress
relieving as a good rock concert, and will never say no to candy.

At one point, Avon was the mayor of both Jazzercise and Lollicup on Foursquare.
This tells you basically all you need to know about her as a person.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Get our review newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Love Young Adult Books?

The Wicked Reads: YA Edition blog has launched. The WR-YA blog will contain the same YA posts that appear on Wicked Reads, but it's safe to let the Young Adults in your life visit because there will be no adult content.